The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea plant, botanically known as Echinacea purpurea, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Meringue’.
The new Echinacea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in IJsselstein and Zuidwolde, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact Echinacea cultivars with attractive inflorescence form and floret coloration.
The new Echinacea originated from a cross-pollination in IJsselstein, The Netherlands in July, 2004 made by the Inventor of a proprietary selection of Echinacea purpurea, identified as code number Ec 301-36, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Echinacea purpurea identified as code number Ec 202-02, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Echinacea was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled greenhouse environment in Zuidwolde, The Netherlands in July, 2006.
Asexual reproduction of the new Echinacea by micropropagation a controlled greenhouse environment in The Netherlands since September, 2006, has shown that the unique features of this new Echinacea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.